Baker's Challenge Giveaway Winner

The winner of the GF prize pack giveaway (by Betty Crocker and myblogspark) is

Congrats!

Enjoy the goodies, and for all those interested, the GF Baker's Challenge is open for entries for another week or so.



(I like the guy at the end, haha)

Gluten Free Baker's Challenge & Giveaway

So. Myblogspark alerted me that Betty Crocker is having a gluten free baker's challenge. I've heard of the regular baker's challenges, but the gluten free one is new to me!

You just submit your awesome GF recipe made using one of the Betty Crocker mixes by June 30th and get a chance to win a grand prize of $5,000, or receive a gluten free baking gift basket as one of 10 finalists.

Baking + a chance at cash or free stuff? Sounds good to me!

Also, even if you don't participate in the contest, you can get discounts on the gluten free Betty Crocker mixes when you visit the gluten free online store  at Glutenfreely.com.

Aaannnddd, to sweeten things up a bit and maybe help us get jump-started on our entries, Betty Crocker (via Myblogspark) is offering a GF prize pack! Yay!

Oh, the possibilities.

To enter the giveaway, spread the word about the Gluten Freely's 20% off sale going on through June, and also leave a comment- I'd love to know which GF mix is your favorite. You have through June 17th to enter!

Personally, I love the yellow cake mix. I even used it for my sister's wedding cake and everyone loved it, no one knew it was gluten free. Heck yes. I can't wait to play with it and create something worthy of the grand prize. And also, get to eat it, haha.

Waffles

chocolate chip waffles

Today was a waffle-making kind of morning.

Before Chris left to do Marine-type-stuff, we'd have a late, leisurely breakfast on most Saturday mornings. Eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon, hashbrowns, whatever. Wake up late, put on a pot of coffee, and slowly get around to cooking breakfast. He got me a waffle maker, and then started requesting these waffles a lot. They were good, but there were points where I had to veto waffles because I was getting tired of eating them!

They're easy peasy to make, and come out soft with just the right amount of toasted crunch. They freeze really well, too.

I actually haven't made them in over a year, but I felt like it this morning. I made a large batch to freeze and pull out for mid-morning "second breakfast" at work.

Basic recipe:

2 c. GF Flour
1/4 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
2 T. oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 c. milk

Mix your dry ingredients with a whisk. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and stir the dry ingredients into the wet. It should be pourable, but not too runny or thick.

Pour ~1/2 c. of batter into a preheated waffle iron and cook for a few minutes- I check to see if they're done when the steaming has calmed down.

I've made them several ways, using the basic recipe and adding:

-chocolate chips, fruit, or peanut butter
-1 t. vanilla and 1/2 t. cinnamon
-1/2 c. shredded cheese and bacon. <-- Freaking YUM.

Makes 6 waffles.

Balsamic and Orange Chicken

I have a lot of these lying around.

photo links to recipe

Sometimes they get lost, thrown away, or stuck in a pile with other recipes torn out of magazines that I'd like to try some day.

But this one, this one actually got made. And it was pretty good. I don't think I've ever tried orange and balsamic flavors together before. The first bite was ok, but by the end I was pretty much diggin it. There's a nice tang from both the orange juice and the vinegar, but they balance each other nicely.

I just used some gluten free flour (see sidebar --> ) in place of the all-purpose flour. I paired mine with green beans and served the chicken & sauce over wild rice cooked in chicken broth. Delish.

Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Udi's muffins

I would like to start by saying that I generally do not care for blueberry muffins. I know... but I don't.

However, I really like the blueberry muffins from Udi's.

Kroger had them on sale a few weeks ago, so I tried them, the cinnamon rolls, and the double chocolate muffins.

My favorite turned out to be the ones I thought I'd like the least- blueberry. I just love the texture and the flavor. I pop them in the freezer at work and take one out for my "second breakfast" and they keep me going for a couple more hours.

The chocolate muffins were ok. They were really sweet; more brownie-like than muffin-like, and they were kind of dry. Overall I didn't care for them as a second breakfast, but as a dessert they were ok.

I thought I'd like the cinnamon rolls the best, but it turns out I liked them the least. They were very tough, so that I couldn't cut them with a fork, and the flavor was so-so. Definitely not worth the calories. Homemade are ten times better.

I did not get to try the lemon ones included on this page, but judging from their other muffins, if I found them I'd try them.

Lemon Basil Bean Soup

My hands smell like lemon, garlic and basil. Mmmm.

Please forgive my terrible photography skills.

This was one of those "pull everything from the fridge that needs to be eaten" types of meals. I really loved the combination of bay leaves and lemon when I made the artichoke, so I created the same kind of taste here.

Chicken broth, a half-used lemon, and some sad-looking celery and carrots were pulled out and paired with some dried beans from the back of the pantry and some fresh herbs from the garden. I could be getting the hang of this.

Lemon Basil Bean Soup

1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 chopped carrot
1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 T. crushed bay leaves, or 2 whole ones
1 1/2 c. dried beans
Fresh parsley, handful-ish, roughly chopped
Fresh basil, handful-ish, roughly chopped
3 c. chicken broth
zest and juice from 1 lemon

1/4 c. fresh basil and parsley, finely chopped, to add after cooking
salt and pepper

Soak the beans overnight, or quick soak: Rinse, bring to a boil in some water, cover and turn the heat off, let them sit for an hour. Drain before using.

In your soup pot, heat up olive oil. Sautee the carrot and celery for a few minutes until they start to get soft. Add in the garlic for a minute. Toss in the drained beans, herbs, lemon juice & zest, and broth. Simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the beans get soft but aren't too mushy yet.

I like to mush up a few of the beans and add them back into the soup. Reserve 1/4 of the soup. I recently discovered that I have this badass immersion blender. That thing is fun. Blend it with the extra 1/4 c. herbs, and add it all back to the pot.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cooking an artichoke

Today I cooked an artichoke.

I found them on sale at the grocery store and thought I'd give it a try.

And it's not that hard!

First cut off the stem. I found that a serrated knife worked best.

Then, trim off the top third. In hindsight, I don't really know if this is necessary. I kinda cut of some of the good parts of the leaves.

Then, I steamed it for 30 minutes.

I don't have a steamer, so I just added to a pot: a couple inches of water, a garlic clove, a lemon slice, and some bay leaves. I stuck the artichoke in, put the lid on, and brought it to a boil. Once it was boiling, I turned the heat to low and set the timer for 30 minutes. The smell was awesome.

When it was done, it looked like this

The leaves just kinda fall off and you eat them. A certain way, apparently. I had to google it. You grab the wide part and put the white end in your mouth, and scrape off with your teeth. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it.

Then, don't be like me and throw away the heart. I got to the middle, tried to eat some of the leaves, but they were pointy! I had to google again to figure it out, and dig it out of the trash. (It was just on top, haha). This link was very helpful. There's going to be a fuzzy part. Scrape it out. The bottom of that is the heart. How easy is that?

Most of the time you dip the leaves in a sauce and then eat them. I wasn't feeling it, so I scraped some of the leaves with a spoon and added it to the pasta I was making for dinner, along with the hearts. Pretty yummy.

I feel like this would be a fun thing to have with friends over. I just need a good dip.